But if the couple finds this fact important then why delay the marriage for years?
They might not have known and someone has pointed it out to them? Or they read something that makes it apparent to them? Health scares and job insecurity can sometimes motivate people to look into where they stand? Life experience teaches them? Especially if like me they see someone else had major issues as a result of not being married?
Lots of reasons
Having children is by far the biggest commitment out of the two
nonsense! Millions of men and some women walk away from their kids in the Uk and aren't even held to the most basic child maintenance laws because the agency supposed to enforce is shit!
I know our parents would help
assumptions like this are what lead to problems.
My relative had got along well with her "in laws" right until their son died, then they couldn't have been less interested in the kids and had absolutely no hesitation in turning them out of the family home.
You don't know what people really think or will do in any number of possible situations
Replication of the protections aren't guaranteed particularly as the person with the asset in question can unilaterally decide to and without even telling the other, change/withdraw them.
I've seen that happen a lot
All of you giving it "we'll do it at some point cos of inheritance tax" I'd have thought a global pandemic in which people of all ages are dying and nhs massively impacted would be damn good reason for doing so now!
Even in "normal" times there are accidents and previously apparently fit and healthy people can and do drop dead of undx issues. As a nurse I saw that happen more than people might like to think
Mortality rates in men aged 40+ have been INCREASING in the past decade
@winetime89 You do sound very naive I'm afraid, no assets do not "naturally find their way to the right person eventually" at all, even if you have things like life assurance the person holding the policy can change it without informing the other, ditto wills, other relatives can challenge validity or the terms which even if you're "in the right" can be lengthy and costly to prove...
Strictly speaking my relatives dc had a claim to the fathers assets, but she didn't have the time, money (due to lack of access to said assets!) or indeed the emotional strength to pursue a case at that time. She was too busy pouring her energies into supporting and providing for 2 devastated dc and grieving herself.
All money is in a joint account
That's a terrible idea for all kinds of reasons! Not even just to do with your relationship!
Eg
Banking crash takes your particular bank under - the govt guarantees protection up to £85k BUT if there were a major crash this could well take some time to access
IT/system crash/is hacked - this has already happened a few times in recent years, resulting in customers being unable to use their cards in shops or at atms
Personally I always have at least 2 accounts with different banks (and banking groups) plus an emergency credit card with a 3rd company.
There are potential issues coming up with brexit for instance. (Your bank MAY appear to be "british" but upon investigation is owned by an EU parent company outside the Uk)
One of you loses their mental faculties or they're called into question - banks can get very odd about this
One of you dies and another relative claims they have the right to inherit - again many banks will simply freeze accounts until resolved, read your accounts small print and its very likely they say they’ll do this it’s pretty common
and if we split house and savings would be shared?
based on what? Good will? Good Will is generally the FIRST thing to go in a split!
There are male dominated forums (sort of the "anti mn" of the internet) where men advise other men seeking advice on separation to:
Empty bank accounts (my ex did this, plus started running up an overdraft which I became partly liable for)
Hide assets and finances
Change wills etc
How to make their income appear less than it is to reduce their child maintenance liability
If I hadn't been married my ex would have got away with:
Emptying the joint accounts days after split and overdraft as I said
Taking the family car in the dead of night leaving me stranded in the arse end of nowhere with toddler dd
Taking valuables from the family home in my absence and without discussing with me including heirloom jewellery from MY side of the family
Not telling me about a work bonus he got just prior to split and had hidden in a secret account - fortunately with the bank we had the joint accounts with so they told my lawyer upon requesting info via legal Channels
It took a wee bit of time but he had to pay me back for all of that, if we'd not been married I'd have had no legal recourse whatsoever!
The other point to this being I am not speaking from a POV of being "smug" but from the experience of an ex who tried to screw me over and from having become acquainted/friends with other single parents (rarely it's the mum who leaves the family and they can behave just as badly as the men who become Nrps) who either we’re screwed over or their ex tried to
I've known of situations where:
The ex has emptied the house while the rp is at work and the kids at school to the point of taking the children's furniture and toys (this is far more common than you might think!)
Valuables have been taken and hidden
Vehicles taken and hidden including motor homes and boats!
Businesses have been deliberately and suddenly closed/ruined (one was a wedding dress one where the ex took off with the takings AND the dresses including those belonging to a lot of customers who'd already paid for them and had them altered! That one made the news!)
DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE WHAT AN EX WILL DO!
I thought if we had life insurance Where one of us dies the house gets payed off that's all there was too it.* *
Nope! You need to closely check the particular clauses and terms.
I earn more than my partner. Always have done so don’t need any “protection”
Then surely THEY need the protection?
How would they and the kids manage if you were to become incapacitated or die? Don't you want to make sure your kids are protected?
To be perfectly honest incapacitation is a LOT more expensive than if you die. I believe (I may be going off old figures here) dying costs the remaining partner approx £20k, incapacitation costs your partner spouse £15-20k PER YEAR you remain alive.
Most people are woefully ill prepared for incapacity of themselves or their partner or spouse.
Partners mother recently died and she put in her will that her pension is to be split between him and sibling so I wonder why she can do that with her two pensions?
Because she has a clearly defined and recognised legal connection to her dc signified and proven by their birth certificates. An unmarried partner has no such recognition or proof.
I'd like to think that the legal protection offered by marriage would be extended to long term cohabiting couples I disagree with this, how would you define who was or wasn’t a legally recognised partner? How would you define when the partnership started? How would you protect people from false claims of partnerhood (eg those with lodgers who could legally prove same address)? How about people who have good reasons for NOT wanting to marry but want to live with someone eg if they have children from a previous relationship and they want to protect their children’s inheritance?
Nah it’s too vague and too open to interpretation, people shouldn’t be forced by default into a legal contract
In Australia, if you have been in a genuine domestic relationship for two years or more and/or have children you're entitled to the same as if you were married.
When is the 2 years counted from? Who decides that if one of the couple disputes and how is it proven?
No, one of the things about marriage (and I include civil partnerships too in all my reasoning) is that there is a witnessed date on which the relationship is confirmed and recognised.